1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to an apparatus for striping film and in particular to such an apparatus with a striping material application station followed by a relatively compact drying path.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Previous apparatus for applying a liquid substance to a quantity of film have tended to be large and bulky since a relatively large area was required for the drying operation. U.S. Pat. No. 2,224,367 issued on Dec. 10, 1940 to F. LaGrande discloses a film coating apparatus having a film drying cabinet. The cabinet includes sets of flanged rollers arranged to form a drying path in a series of spiral loops back and forth, transversely of the cabinet, and progressively from the rear to the front of the cabinet. U.S. Pat. No. 1,569,048 issued on Jan. 12, 1926 to F. J. J. Stock discloses an apparatus for regenerating cinematographic films having a series of rollers for directing the film in the manner of a worm conveyor from the input end to the output end of a drying chamber.
In each of the above-identified patents, as well as other prior art, the apparatus disclosed utilizes a path of travel which requires many sharp 180.degree. reversals of the film during the drying process. Such sharp reversals tend to stress the film which weakens it and lessens its life. Therefore, it would be advantageous to provide a path of travel for the film which is compact yet eliminates the sharp reversals in direction.